REFUGIO STATE BEACH, Calif. — A severe storm that pummeled California has taken a toll on some of the state’s most iconic trees.
Several majestic palm trees that usually flank the Refugio State Beach just north of Santa Barbara have come crashing down in recent days. Images show how the massive, 100-year-old trees were completely uprooted as they fell into the ocean.
Local officials say a combination of factors caused the trees to fall: several years of beach erosion, combined with powerful high tides and oversaturated soils from the back-to-back atmospheric rivers that brought heavy rains and high winds across the state.
“As the ground gets saturated, the trees start to fall, the eucalyptus, the palm trees, the ground gets so wet with water the roots can’t hold in the ground anymore and the trees come falling over,” Craig VanderZwaag, Santa Barbara County fire battalion chief, told NBC News.
I vaguely remember them from the many times I've driven up and down Highway 101. Oh well, they were probably an invasive species anyway.
Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Poolside open and ready for business.
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